Iran Daily: Nasrallah — Tehran & Hezbollah Back Syrian Ceasefire

PHOTO:Hezbollah leader Nasrallah on Sunday “We have contributed to reconciliation in Syria”

The leader of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, Seyed Hasan Nasrallah, has declared that the Lebanese organization and Tehran support a ceasefire and the halt of bloodshed in Syria.

Speaking via video to a ceremony in northeastern Lebanon, Nasrallah denied reports that Hezbollah had rejected any truce. He said Hezbollah “supports the ceasefire agreement” declared by Russia, Iran, and Turkey in last month’s talks in the Kazakhstan capital Astana, as well as “reconciliation pacts” with areas capitulating to pro-Assad forces inside Syria.

Proclaiming that “Iran stands by any political settlement to end the crisis in Syria”, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah has also “contributed to the internal reconciliations”. He denied that there had been any “forced demographic change” with the displacement of millions of civilians from their homes: “The countries and the media outlets which promote such reports lost all the logical reasons for continuing the war so they resort to such lies and claims.”

Alongside Iran and Russia, Hezbollah has been an essential supporter of the Assad regime. Its intervention with fighters in 2013 reversed rebel advances, notably with the capture of the town of Qusayr since the Lebanese border. Since then, thousands of Hezbollah members have been involved in operations across the country, including the reoccupation of all of Aleppo city in December.

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About The Author

Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham and editor-in-chief of EA WorldView. He is a specialist in US and British foreign policy and international relations, especially the Middle East and Iran. Formerly he worked as a journalist in the US, writing for newspapers including the Guardian and The Independent and was an essayist for The New Statesman before he founded EA WorldView in November 2008.